Movement Building Series Week 1: What is Transformative Movement Building?

Originally Posted September 16, 2016Share:

Movements are powerful because they solve problems that are bigger than one person or organization can address alone. Movements reimagine our world — and in the process, make the impossible, possible.

To build transformative movements, four elements are key: leading with audacious vision and bold purpose; deep embodiment; radical connection and community; and strategic navigation. These key elements are explored more deeply in webinars 2-6.

In this first webinar, we explore transformative movement building, including an introduction to the four key elements of transformative movements and a look at some examples. We are joined by movement storyteller Navina Khanna from HEAL Food Alliance. Navina shares her experience with HEAL as an example of a transformative movement connecting efforts across health, environment, agriculture, and labor to transform our food system.

Key Ideas

To achieve exponential change the depth of solutions to our world’s problems must mirror the depth of the problems we face. Since the problems our movements seek to change are interconnected, solutions to those problems also need to be interconnected.

Movements unfold across all layers of experience: personal, interpersonal, intergroup, institutional, and cultural.

Movements need to be organized around our shared values, to reflect the change we want to create in the world.

Movement Inquiry Questions: This practice guide is designed to broaden awareness of the movement in the present moment, and to strengthen our movement-building through self-awareness and reflection. This guide offers way to sharpen movement strategy during annual planning, when clarifying or designing a program, or when a network, collaborative, or alliance is forming or refining their strategy.

Margins to Center: Social justice movements must be led by the people who directly experience injustice. This practice guide is designed to increase awareness of power and privilege in our own experiences and in our movements. It can be used for personal development, team building, program or organizational planning, or in developing alignment within a network, collaborative, or alliance.